A talking Barbie is about to be available in stores nationwide during this year's holidays, as revealed by USA Today. Not many people are happy about Barbie coming to life, though. A toy advocacy group is encouraging Mattel to cancel the retail availability of the new doll. The group pointed out that it is not right for conversations between Barbie and the kids to go public.
Huffington Post reported that the critics feared eavesdropping on children's lives is imminent once the talking doll is available in the market. According to critics, having conversations recorded exposes kids' personal affairs to the public. These personal affairs include, but are not limited to, interests, family life, and personality traits, among others. Such public exposure is prone to marketing young people unjustly, critics observed.
On Wednesday, the group posted a statement on their website in support of a petition for Mattel to dispense the manufacture and availability of the talking Barbie in the market. In fact, the group referred to the talking Barbie doll as "creepy", according to CNN Money. Susan Linn, the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood director, thought that a toy maker just sought to make huge money out of a talking doll.
In a phone interview, Linn said, "This is really about Mattel eavesdropping on a child's heart and soul - and the most intimate things about their lives."
The talking Barbie version is referred to as "Hello Barbie." At $74.99 each, the doll is Wi-Fi enabled. Talking Barbie dolls have microphones attached on their belt buckles which capture children talking while playing with Barbie. The voices, thus, are dispatched to cloud servers. The cloud servers keep the recorded voices for a maximum of two years.
Toy Talk is Mattel's technology partner, and integrates children's speeches to keywords. This, in turn, makes kids feel as if Barbie is talking back to them. Stephanie Cota, Mattel's global communications vice president, revealed in an official emailed statement the main purpose behind the creation of "Hello Barbie":
"The No. 1 request we receive from girls globally is to have a conversation with Barbie, and with Hello Barbie we are making that request a reality."
Parents whose kids will play with "Hello Barbie" get to sign an access agreement. After having bought the dolls, parents will have access to the conversations exchanged during play. This feature will give parents the peace of mind that they'll still be able to ensure their kids' good well-being.
